FORT COLLINS – Colorado State released its first depth chart today, and there were a few surprises contained within it. And they started with an area that had been taken for granted — the defensive alignment.

Early on it was made known CSU’s defense was switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 this season. Only, on the depth chart these are the front seven positions on defense: LDE, DT, DT, RDE, SLB, MLB, WLB.

Shaquil Barrett — a preseason all-conference selection at linebacker — is listed as a right defensive end, along with Broderick Sargent and Steven Michel.

CSU coach Jim McElwain has already said that Barrett, the team’s leading tackler from a year ago, would play both standing up and with his hand in the ground. The suggestion, however, was that he’d be a linebacker with the ability to put his hand in the ground, thus the team plays a 3-4.

How thin is the line between Colorado State’s current 3-5 record and one that could have been 4-4, 5-3 or better?

Razor thin.

Colorado State starts a stretch run of football games this week at home against San Diego State. It cannot change the previous month of games where a considerable number of shortcomings have left it desperately seeking solutions to get back on track.

These are by no means the only ones, but had this group of plays gone CSU’s way, the conversation of coach Steve Fairchild’s status beyond this season and all of the things that ail the Rams right now probably would have taken a back seat.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.